Holy smokes! Wildfires cause air quality advisory in Lower Mainland

UPDATE: The air quality advisory has been cancelled as of Saturday afternoon.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District issued an air quality advisory on Friday because of fire smoke coming in from every which way.

Wildfires in the Okanagan and Interior, as well as in Agassiz, Hope and over the U.S. border, have caused a haze to blanket the region. Smoke from the Friday morning barge fire in Surrey has worsened conditions.

Metro Vancouver said intermittent high concentrations of fine particulate matter are in the air. That refers to airborne solid or liquid droplets that can easily penetrate indoors because of their small size.

Smoke concentrations can vary widely across the region, it said, as winds, temperatures and fire behaviours change.

While most of the region remains at a low risk on the Air Quality Health Index, the eastern Fraser Valley is considered at very high risk, but set to moderate by Saturday.

A smoky-sky bulletin has also been released by the province as more than 460 wildfires continue to burn.